"Artists and Models" Vs. "Artists and Models

[Gerry O.]

Whenever Jack would discuss these two Paramount musical-comedies, he would usually say, "One was good and one was lousy", but he never said which one was which.

I've seen both films and they're very different, but I wouldn't say that one was that much better than the other. "Artists and Models" is more of a revue-type film with a slim plot, kind of like a "Big Broadcast" movie, while "Artists and Models Abroad" has a more structured plot.....but there are positives and negatives in both films.

I know that the first film did much better at the box office than the second film ("....Abroad") did, but that could be due to movie audiences being confused with the second film. You would THINK that the second film would be a direct sequel to the first, but it wasn't. In "....Abroad", Jack played an entirely different character, with a different name and occupation, than the first film's character.

If anyone here has seen both of Jack's "Artists and Models" movies, do you have a preference or any other thoughts on them?

[Yhtapmys]

Shows you how much I know. I didn't realise they were two different films.

Yhtapmys

[Gerry O.]

I realize that this is an ancient thread, but I thought that I would update everyone on this subject.....

I showed prints of both "Artists and Models" films to a general audience, and the second one, "Artists and Models Abroad" went over much better than the first one....which is kind of strange, since the first one was a much bigger hit at the box office when both were originally released.

I think that "Abroad" holds up better with present-day audiences and is better received because of the very reason that it failed with 1938 audiences....it's a much simpler movie as compared to the first.

The original entry was more of a "variety"-type musical-comedy that was loaded with specialty numbers featuring performers who were popular back then....but some of those numbers and performers don't hold up particularly well with modern audience who aren't familiar with these 1930's entertainers.

"Artists and Models Abroad" isn't as flashy and glitzy as the previous film, and there are no "big name" specialty numbers to speak of....but the second film DOES have a much stronger story line and characters who you can get to know, like and care about. As a result, modern audiences can relate and "get into" the second film much easier than the first.

In this case, it looks like the old saying of "Simpler Is Better" holds true.